Abstract: This study examines the recollections of medieval English men, found in proof-of-age inquests, regarding their participation in the rite of the purification of women after childbirth. Because the rite of purification was reserved to women, scant attention has been paid to how this rite and the customs surrounding it played in the lives of medieval men. These men's recollections situate postpartum purification within the festivities celebrating the birth of a man's heir. For them, it is a public event celebrating paternity and lineage, and a forum for the negotiation of social relationships. [Reproduced by permission of Blackwell Publishers. Notice: The abstract is under copyright and may not be reproduced without permission.].